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Edward Boccia
Edward Eugene Boccia (1921-2012) was an American poet, painter, and academic. Life Born to Italian parents in Newark, New Jersey, Boccia attended the Newark School of Fine Arts. He studied at the Pratt Institute and the Art Students League, New York, where he met his wife Madeleine Wysong. Boccia served in World War II, in the 603rd Camouflage engineer unit known today as the Ghost Army. He continued to paint and draw during his time overseas, sending his artwork back to his mother. After the war, Boccia earned B.S. and M.A. degrees from Columbia University, while concurrently serving as Dean and teaching art at the Columbus Art School in Ohio, where he introduced the Bauhaus teaching method to his students. From 1951 until his retirement in 1986, Boccia was professor of Fine Arts in the School of Fine Arts at Washington University, St. Louis. In 1958, he was awarded the Borsa di Studio from the Italian government, for study in Italy.Edward Boccia, Time Being Books. Web, Sep. 3, 2018. Widely exhibited during his lifetime, and the focus of a number of retrospective and solo exhibits, Boccia created over 1,500 paintings, and over 50 large scale multi-panel format oil paintings in a neo-expressionist style.Archives of The Edward E. Boccia & Madeline J. Boccia Trust, St. Louis, Missouri. Boccia, Edward E. 2007. Boccia’s art is found in the collections of art museums including The Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis; St. Louis University Museum of Art; St. Louis Art Museum; Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale; The Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina, Greensboro; and the National Gallery Athens, Greece. A number of commissioned works are on view in religious and public institutions, and his work is also held by over 600 private collectors, such as the Kodner Gallery in St. Louis. Writing Boccia began writing poetry in 1980. His poems have appeared in numerous publications, including the Eliot Review, Orbis, Live Poets Society, Poetpourri, Margie: The American journal of poetry, and in the anthologies Graffiti Rag Anthology, Memories and Memoirs: Anthology of Missouri poets; Long Island Sounds, The Light of City and Sea, Gems from the Past, and Cuivre River Anthology. His earliest chapbook, Moving the Still Life, was published by Pudding House in 1993. No Matter How Good the Light Is: Poems by a painter was published in 1998, by Time Being Books. His other books include Answering Neruda (Pudding House, 2006) and Carlo X (Pudding House, 2008). He has given poetry readings at the Focal Point, in Maplewood, Missouri, and at the Webster Groves Public Library, in Webster Groves, Missouri. Recognition Boccia was knighted to the Cavaliere al Merito della Republica by the president of Italy in 1979. In 1990, St. Louis University, home to some 100 Boccia paintings, made him a member of the Order of the Crown of King St. Louis IX. He has received over 40 other awards, including prizes from the Wednesday Club of St. Louis, the World Order of Narrative Poets, Negative Capability, Blue Unicorn, Rhino, Margie, the American Journal of Poetry, and the St. Louis Writers Guild. Publications Poetry *''Moving the Still Life: Poems and art''. Johnstown, OH: Pudding House, 1993. *''No Matter How Good the Light Is: Poems by a painter''. St. Louis, MO: Time Being Books, 1998. *''A Light in the Grapes''. Grand Junction, CO: Frank Cat Press, 2000. *''Greatest Hits, 1980-2000''. Johnstown, OH: Pudding House, 2001. Answering Neruda. Columbus, OH: Pudding House, 2006. *''Carlo X''. Columbus, OH: Pudding House, 2007. *''Held Up by a Dream: Poems and paintings''. Cutchogue, 2010. Art *''Boccia: The tryptychs'' (edited by Sherry L. Cohn). St. Louis, MO: School of Fine Art, 1985? Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Edward Boccia, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 3, 2018. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Books *Edward Boccia at Amazon.com ;About *Edward Boccia at Time Being Books *"Remembering Ed Boccia" at the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art *Edward E. Boccia Artist Trust Official website Category:1921 births Category:2012 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:21st-century poets Category:American poets Category:English-language poets Category:American artists Category:American painters Category:Poets Category:American academics